The Amherst news-times. (Amherst, Ohio), 1999-10-20

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Class of '49 unites — Page 5
Comets keep SWC title hopes alive — Paqr
Amherst News-Times
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Wednesday.  October  ?0.   1999
Amherst.  Ohio
Flea market owners rebuilding after blaz
L
by STEVE BARRy
News-Time9 reporter
Jamie's Flea Market has
begun reconstruction of the
central building destroyed by
fire last July. Stair Builders
have set the poles and are
making progress toward getting the structure under roof.
Unfortunately for the owners, vendors and customers,
the building will not be complete until some time m December. Old vendors reopening in the new building who
were unable to relocate into
one of the other two buildings, as well as any new vendors, will miss most if not all
of the Christmas shopping
season.
Jamie's yearly Christmas
special will be held on Dec.
5. It will include a Santa
Gaus and the choral group
performance.
The Mocks purchased Jamie's in 1983 from Stan and
Jan Ingersol. Jan is the
daughter of William Jamie,
the original founder of the
business. It began as a place
for auctions , but the owners
quickly realized the advantages of becoming the largest
flea market in the region.
The new structure isn't going to be much of a change
from the old building, except
the new will have Are walls
built in. The office is going
back into its old location in
the new building. Mock
doesn't appear interested in
doing any expansion to the
facilities.
Lolita wants things to return to the way they were
before the fire. Right now all
but four or five of the original vendors are on the waiting list Some of the vendors
moved into the east building,
and they will move back to
the center building once it
has been completed, Vendors
interested in space should find
some vacancies in the east
building. Old vendors, by the
way, have dibs on booth
space in the new building,
which run about $24 to $26
dollars a week.
"Our facilities give people
a chance to see if they really
want to be full-time store
ownen,'' Mock said. The
Mermaid's Tale in Amherst
began as a booth at Jamie's,
she noted.
Because of her extensive
knowledge of the business,
the Mocks decided to keep
general manager Lorna Bal-
mart when the business
changed hands. Balmart is the
granddaughter of William
Jamie.
"People from England,
Scotland and businessmen
from Japan have visited us;
the Japanese were studying
the business to start a business like it in Japan," Mock,
said.
As a 23-year fixture of
South Amherst, Jamie's has
been visited by the people
from PM Magazine, and was
featured by Neil Zurcher's
One Tank Trips. People from
the East coast come to find
collectibles both for business
and for individual homes.
"There is no pressure to
buy, you can browse the
booths and relax. If people
call in to see if a certain
vendor is here we will tell
them yes or no," Mock said.
The skeleton of a pole building arises at Ja mie's Flea Market.
Pumpkin
patch
could be
plumpest
in world
by KEITH GRIBBINS
News-Times reporter
For the small business man marketing is an essential part of drawing
the eye of public attention.
A savvy local owner needs to
provide something a little different
to help sway the average Joe away
from the corporate staples and onto
their stretch of commerce, not to
mention facilitate repeat business.
No one knows that better than
Penton's Farm Market owner Andy
Hill.
"When you have this kind of business, what's important is to provide
• unique experience for the customers," explained Hill. "Sometimes
you have to show them something
ta* they have never seen before and
might not see ever again."
Case and point. HiU and his family have taken on the Herculean task
of entering the Guinness Book of
World Records in their produce
market store at 44905 North Ridge
Road. The record HiU is attempting
lo establish is the largest pUe of
pumpkins ever documented.
• The giant pUe of pumpkins currently is 21 feet wide and eight feet
high. The pile, composed of Mother
Lode and Gold Rush pumpkins because of their larger fruit and thickness, sits inside the front of the store
surrounded by a number of apple
crates to inhibit the threat of an
avalanche.
"People are coming from Cleveland just to look at the pile and of
course buy a pumpkin," smiled Hill.
';The project was conceived after
Hill was left with two acres of
pumpkins that weighed IS to 45
pounds a piece. The pumpkins were
originally frown for another activity
al the tern market called Penton's
fympfcin Patch.
Thepempkin patch ii a group of
activities for preschoolers through
second mde that the market has
each October for families that includes h^rides. a corn stalk jungle,
eftchaatsd forest, slides, bicycle
area, aad more. The children entering the pumpkin patch were altowed
10 pick a pumpkin of their own
Choice btf te anmUar Children pre
en BOM)
Cutting out
Stone contractor Eamon Darcy is with helpers Joe Vedova and    Brad Church replacing broken stones in front ot city hall.
Brove chosen Freemason master
by STEVE BARRY
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News-Times reporter
For the first time since its
inception 125 years ago, the
Amherst Lodge of Freemasons
is going to have a District
Deputy Grand Master.
Appointed District Deputy
Grand Master Jerry Brove. is
a 1959 graduate from Lorain
High. Brove moved to Amherst from Lorain in 1966,
and he and wife Margie have
been married for 34 yean.
Brave's appointment waa
announced at ceremonies held
Oct 14 and IS in Columbus.
He is to be installed as District Deputy Grand Master,
Oct 23 at the Amherat lodge
located at ths corner ot
Franklin and Weat attests, at
7:30 pjn. The public is invited lo attend, and shuale
service wiU he provided.
The- District Dcpety Orand
Master's position is usually
held for three years, while
other lodge positions, including Grand Master, are only
held for a year. Ron Rogers
is the incoming Grand Master
for this year.
Among the responsibilities
Brove wUl cany out. is a
yearly inspection of 12 assigned bhm lodges in the
22nd district One of the
things he wiU inspect for is
to ensure "The Grand Master's Programs are carried
out," Brove said. The District
Deputy Grand Master is required to also check tie
books sad facilities of every
He wiU be present at
V*9
District De-
hewtt
a member of
ia
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Haz Mat
members
county's
cleanup
experts
by STEVE BARRY
News-Times reporter
Some members of the Amherst
Fire Department have duties in addition to putting out fires.
They serve as members of the
Lorain County Hazardous Materials
Response Team (Haz Mat).
City Council is currently working
on a measure to allocate funds toward the Haz Mat program.
Currently a total of 34 communities and townships participate in the
program, both in funding (roughly
three cents per person per year) and
supplying members (mostly firefighters) for the Haz Mat team. The
number of team members assigned
from each district is one per every
$1,000 collected, and since Amherat
also covers the township, a total of
four members is expected.
According to Lorain County
Emergency Management Director
Tom Kelley, the system works like
this: A truck carrying hazardous materials suddenly flips over somewhere in the county and begins
leaking.
The situation is reported, and the
responding agency aaaesses the situation and chemicals present There
is a special guide book that gives information dictating which of the
four levels of emergency is to be declared, and from ground zero, te
area included for evacuation. Anything emergency level two or above
requires lbs Mat team response.
Next die entire Haz Mat Team is
paged and told to report to te assigned staging area. There an around 42 county Hat Mat Team
jobs, an
te
All
level, to be abb io
At amnrgsacy
Is
of 25
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